An ongoing series of cyber-attacks against several UK-based and international communications providers are the result of a coordinated criminal operat

‘Professional cybercriminals’ blamed for DDoS attacks against UK telecoms providers

submited by

Style Pass

2021-10-27 18:30:11

An ongoing series of cyber-attacks against several UK-based and international communications providers are the result of a coordinated criminal operation geared towards extorting victims, according to an industry trade group.

In a statement, Comms Council UK blamed a “coordinated extortion-focused international campaign by professional cybercriminals” for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against IP-based comms service providers.

The attacks represent an assault on the UK’s critical telecoms infrastructure, say Comms Council members who provide services to some of the UK’s critical infrastructure organizations including the police, the National Health Service, and other public resources.

The council is now working with the UK government, National Cyber Security Centre, watchdog Ofcom, and other international agencies to share intelligence about the attacks and determine the best ways to mitigate them.

The attacks are affecting an unspecified number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. Business-focused VoIP provider Voipfone self-identified as one of the victims on Wednesday.